Tzipi Livni Quotes

I am a pretty good lawyer, and I decided to close the office and to enter politics.

When it comes to matters of religion and state, Bayit Yehudi is more extreme than the ultra-Orthodox.

I want Israel to have borders. For that, I need a map. I need a map on which our borders are specified.

I may have been born in Tel Aviv, but my umbilical cord emerges from the Temple Mount.

Supporting the war on terror is not an anti-Palestinian act. It is anti-terror.

Israel needs to change direction, and this is not just political. We’re becoming more closed-in, more isolated, more scared. Those who talk tough are making the State of Israel very weak, very isolated – very Jewish, in the Diaspora-sense, in that ‘everyone is against us.’ We need to get out of this.

There is a mutual interest between Israel and the United States of America. It is more than friendship – it is friendship plus mutual interest, and it is bipartisan.

You can’t put your name, recognition, your money in a company without having share in the control.

If Syria wants to be part of the international community, there are some conditions that they have to meet. And the first one is to stop embracing the terrorism.

As leaders, we in Israel must take into account the concerns of diaspora Jewry. Israel is strong enough to take criticism from within the family of Jews who say, ‘OK, we disapprove of Israeli policy, but we stand firm for Israel.’

I was by Ariel Sharon‘s side on the day it was decided to form Kadima. It was founded in aim to create a government of hope and responsibility.

I think we need to change the system of elections in order to give less power to some sectors in Israeli society.

I hate the idea that talking security is Likud and right wing, and talking about peace is left wing and Labor and Kadima. The whole idea is to find a way to bridge: to find a way to have security and peace together.

For me, it is clear that when it comes to the need of Israel to defend itself, the role of the United States of America is crucial.

Something that truly frustrates me is the impression in Israel that when you are talking about security, you are bold; you are tough: this is what we need against all the enemies that we have. And when someone is talking about peace, you know, it’s the naive left wing, soft.

Democracy is not only the right to vote, it is also about not resorting to violence in order to reach political goals and respecting agreements signed by former governments.

There is an essential difference between someone who harms a child on purpose and someone who harms a child by accident during combat in civilian territory.

The Palestinian conflict is the glass ceiling of Israel’s economy.

The real danger is a politics that buries its head in the sand.

I don’t question any American president in terms of his commitment to the security of the state of Israel.

I worked in the Mossad for a few years.

The attitude of ‘every nation unto itself’ is a destructive one for the future of Israel.

Wars are not a choice we make for no reason.

You know how my mother and father met? In a train robbery!

Being an Israeli is to know that you have risen from the ashes of those who were killed and knowing you have a responsibility for the coming generations.

The wise Jewish Israeli must work with the moderate Muslim and the Christian leader of the free world against the crazy Muslims.

I’m not a person of mentors.

Without strong Arab backing, it will be hard, if not impossible, for a Palestinian leader to reach peace with Israel.

There is an intimacy and trust that is needed between leaders, between their assistants and advisers. Usually, you have the real substance behind closed doors; and the press conferences, you have niceties, nice photo ops.

I believe most of the public should be involved in the election of the leadership.

The role of a leader is to create a reality and not to be influenced by polls.

My ideology is not connected to the Palestinians.

We must draw a distinction between understanding and supporting Israel’s values and existence, and criticising any Israeli government’s policy.

When I make decisions, I’m not thinking about my parents. I’m thinking about my children.

Relations between countries are built on values and interests and many other things, but at the end of the day, leaders are also only human beings.

Israel’s security doctrine is not that Israel must invade every place from which a threat to Israel emanates.

Turkey knows the importance of its ties with Israel; it knows it’s in the same moderate camp with Israel, the moderate Palestinians and other Muslim countries, and the threat to Turkey is not from us.

A romantic relationship requires honesty between a couple.

The fact that a terrorist was killed, and it doesn’t matter if it was in Dubai or Gaza, is good news to those fighting terrorism.

The last thing that Israel needs is to be part of the internal agenda in the United States between Republicans and Democrats.

I don’t envy my teachers. I used to preach to them.

I was born in Israel. My parents came in 1925.

When you look at the Lebanon-Syria border, you see a porous border despite the fact that you have a U.N. Security Council decision that speaks of an embargo on weapons transfers to Hezbollah.

The Palestinian national movement is not an Islamic religious movement.

I am good at persuading people. In convincing the other, I try to start from their point of view so it’s easier for me to find a common denominator.

I’m not asking myself, ‘How I can be different from Netanyahu?’ because I am different, and Kadima is different from Likud, by its own nature.

Sept. 11 was a shock to the whole world.

The reason for the blockade on Gaza was not to punish the Palestinians but to continue to delegitimize Hamas.

I believe that democracy is about values before it is about voting. These values must be nurtured within society and integrated into the electoral process itself.

The right to love is granted to anyone.

Mr. Obama‘s call to support genuine democracy has implications for the kinds of elections the international community promotes and endorses.

Israel has a problem not because of the perception that the entire world is against us, but because of the government’s problematic policies.

The capacity to influence radical groups can diminish significantly once they are viewed as indispensable coalition partners and are able to intimidate the electorate with the authority of the state behind them.

What I am trying to say to Israel is, ‘Listen, borders is something that we need, and hopefully, peace is something that we need.’

In general, I don’t like formality at all.

We are fighting to keep Israel a democracy – not just in terms of its electoral system but also in terms of its values.

It’s not enough to speak loudly and confidently. You have to know how to get the world on your side, to accept Israel’s ideas of security and defending its interests. Netanyahu does not know how to do this.

Israel is part of the free world led by the United States, no matter what.

Sinai is demilitarized in accordance with the Israel-Egypt peace agreement.

Hamas’s strategy is resistance and survival. As long as they survive, this is a victory.